An intravenous infusion set is used to provide liquid intravenously to patients. An elevated drip-chamber is typically provided as part of a gravity feed administration set with tubing connected to the top and bottom of the chamber. The administrator of the fluids can control the flow of fluids by adjusting a clamp attached to the tubing that pinches the tubing thereby restricting the flow.
After the drip rate of the fluid is initially set, patient movement can adversely affect the flow. The tubing may become kinked by the patient rolling onto the tubing, thus reducing the flow of fluids. Excessive movement by the patient may cause changes to the resistance dynamics of the tubing causing a steady stream of fluid to pass through the tube into the drip-chamber rather than at the desired drip rate. Such changes in the flow of fluid when falling outside an acceptable range of drip rate variation can be dangerous to the patient, particularly when the change goes unnoticed for a length of time.
There are a number of devices that control the flow of fluids by mechanically adjusting the amount the tube is pinched based on a variety of factors. However, these devices are complicated, bulky and expensive. Further, if there is a mechanical malfunction or power source failure, there is no alarm to alert the administrator. Furthermore, none of the existing devices adequately alert the administrator of unacceptable variations in the drip rate of the fluids without first completely shutting down the flow. Accordingly, there is a need for a compact apparatus for monitoring and detecting unacceptable variations in the drip rate in a drip-chamber and alerting the administrator by sounding an audible signal.